"One of the privileges of being AustCham President is to present the annual President's award. Last year the award went to James Wise and the Australian Embassy for the great support provided to Austham including the support for the Chamber being awarded a grant from the Government.

The award is to recognize contributions to AustCham that go beyond that which is required or expected. This year the award went to one of our past Directors who served for six years, including as a Vice President, Belinda Skinner.

People become directors for all sorts of reasons ranging from their own personal or company needs to concern about specific issues to just wanting to make a contribution. Belinda certainly made a contribution as her only concern was the effectiveness of the Chamber. AustCham has a reputation for the effectiveness and quality of its communications and its presentation in general. Belinda lead this effort for many years with passion and a skill rarely seen. Thank you Belinda for this lasting legacy. You were a role model for being an AustCham Director through your commitment and your respect to all others."

Leigh Scott-Kemmis

President of AustCham

"It is with great honour that I accept this award. I know this award is not handed out lightly. I have been serving on the Board for six years, however I have been involved with AustCham for about eight years now. Eight years ago, I started working with the Community Services committee and joined the voluntary English teaching program, of which the past five years I have lead the teaching program and have had a wonderful team of volunteers.

It was during the early times that I met Martin Kyle, the then Executive Director of the Chamber who convinced me to stand for the Board of Directors, which I did and I thank Martin for all his support. During my time on the Board I have worked with several President’s and ED’s all of whom have been vastly different and yet made valuable contributions to the growth and success of this wonderful Chamber.

I also thank them for their hard-work and dedication and their support shown to me. I have to admit, I was a very active board member and I was involved in almost everything! This included the magazine, handbook, editing and vetting emails and all communications, Community Services, the Ball, Business Awards, AFL, recruitment and general office well-being. I just couldn’t keep my nose out of anything!

Speaking of the office, I wish to highlight the wonderful team we have in the Chamber office under the guidance now of Renee Bowman. They are so dedicated to this Chamber and have all shown me significant support over the years. I will continue to work with them where I possibly can. Well done team, I’m so proud to have been part of your team! I believe we have the best Chamber and I thank all its members and hope to be able to continue to witness it grow from strength to strength. "

Belinda Skinner

Country Manager - en world Thailand (Former Vice President of AustCham)

Australian Day BBQ

AustCham Thailand is delighted to invite you to join and celebrate Australia Day. The event will be held outdoors in the beautiful grounds beside the river at the Shangri-La Hotel with kids activities and a live band. It is a great way to celebrate Australia Day outside the country with Australian style BBQ cuisine and beverages. To arrange bookings for your children, please contact office@austchamthailand.com

On the 1st February we will be running the 15th Convoy for Kids day outsince the first in 2000. This year we will again take a total of 300 children to Safari World. As well as children from The Sri Sang Wal School we will be taking kids from Sister Joan’s Klong Toey Slum Project, and from The Bang Seu Project. More detail please contact davidmbkk@gmail.com

Sundowners – AustCham Thailand's monthly business networking function – is the most successful networking event in Bangkok. It is a great opportunity for members and guests of the Chamber to meet, network and exchange views in a social environment.

Joint Chambers Professional Women's Group Cosmetics Workshop and Networking Event

AustCham Thailand, on behalf of the Joint Chambers Professional Women’s Group, invites you to join us for a special evening of beauty talks, make-up workshop and of course networking. Whether you’re a happy lovebird or a lonely heart, this fun workshop will teach you how to create gorgeous make-up looks for your special night out.

Kickstarter is the default funding option for many wannabe small business owners. If your business is too small to attract venture capitalists, Kickstarter is the place to go after getting some initial groundwork in to make sure that you have a presentable product for your funders.

Gregg Brockway has launched major brands that address chronic problems in the travel sector. But it was the pain of moving house that led the co-founder of Hotwire and TripIt to tackle his latest venture. “We moved several times,” Brockway says. “Each time we moved, we would have furniture that just didn’t fit in our new house, and it was driving me crazy.

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The new criteria of the BOI for investment became effective on 1 January 2015 and will be used for seven years (2015-2021). However, existing projects already promoted by the BOI and applications submitted before 1 January 2015 will not be affected by the new policy.

By this time next year, we should be entering the dawn of the ASEAN Economic Community, realizing the AEC has not been the easiest task for member countries. For all member countries, it is now vital that their governments establish a substantive regime to ensure an effective implementation of the AEC concepts to which they have committed to. In this article, we focus on the changes that are still to be made to Thai domestic laws, regulations and policies.

The Peak Group was established and registered in 2007. Our team has extensive experience and consists of planners, engineers, designers, sales coordinators and installation teams. We became the executive distributor for The Rack Armour, Australia in 2008 and The CAEM of Italy in 2009.